Microsoft wants Jordan to further curb software piracy

AMMAN, Nov 20, 2008 (Jordan Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- More efforts to raise awareness and further enforcement of intellectual property legislation is required in Jordan to curb software piracy rates which stood at 60 per cent in 2007, a top Microsoft director has said.

"Sixty is a good percentage compared to some other countries in the region. However, it is still high because, in Dubai for example, it stands below 40 per cent and this largely affects plans to attract investments in the IT sector," Sherif Seddik, regional director of Microsoft North Africa, East Mediterranean and Pakistan, said at a roundtable meeting on Tuesday.

A major reason behind the "high" percentage of piracy is the weakness of efforts to spread awareness among customers and governments on how harmful and dangerous piracy is, according to Seddik, who added there is a need for more effective enforcement of piracy-combating laws in Jordan, which "enjoys strong intellectual property rights legislation".

"There is a need for more efforts to raise awareness and that is a responsibility of all companies in the sector, governments and all concerned entities," he said.

Seddik stressed that piracy has a negative impact on the economy as it affects the attraction of investments.

"Piracy poses questions on how much investments in the sector are protected, especially when it comes to creativity and innovations. It also causes losses to the government as it deprives it from having tax revenues," he said.

The software industry in Jordan, however, faced higher losses in 2007, amounting to $20 million, up from $19 million the previous year, according to a study by the Business Software Alliance.

Officials have attributed this loss to the rising PC and Internet penetration rates in the Kingdom, coupled with a trend among end-users to buy pirated software.

Seddik said Microsoft has already launched several initiatives to combat piracy and said it has plans in the pipelines to encourage the usage of original copies through highlighting dangers of pirated copies and through making available original copies at cheaper prices.

Owners of outlets selling DVDs, CDs and computer devices downtown said they rarely buy original copies.

"I sell pirated software such as versions of Microsoft and other games at low prices. All it takes is to copy them from other colleagues in the business, which does not cost much. None of the customers who come to my store ask for original copy they only ask if I have fake copies," a sales assistant at a store in downtown said.

The employee said: "It is a good business and sales are high. For the price of an original CD you can buy more than 15 pirated CDs sometimes."

At a next door shop, a worker said: "People do not care if it is original or not. They just want something that they can use, either a game, a movie or whatever."

A student of IT at the University of Jordan said as long as piracy goes unchecked, no one would bother to buy original copies.

"Why would I buy an original copy of a movie, for example, and pay JD15 or more while I can buy the same movie for JD2 or less," he said.

"It is about cost after all," the 4th year student said.

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